Alan Menken

Alan Irwin Menken[1] (born July 22, 1949) is an American composer, songwriter, music conductor, director and record producer. Menken is best known for his scores and songs for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores and songs for The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and Pocahontas (1995) have each won him two Academy Awards. He also composed the scores and songs for Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Newsies (1992), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Home on the Range (2004), Enchanted (2007), Tangled (2010), among others.

Alan Menken
Menken in 2013
Background information
Birth nameAlan Irwin Menken[1]
Born (1949-07-22) July 22, 1949
New York City, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Arranger
  • conductor
  • songwriter
  • music director
  • record producer
Years active1972–present
Labels
WebsiteOfficial website

He is also known for his work in musical theatre for Broadway and elsewhere. Some of these are based on his Disney films, but other stage hits include Little Shop of Horrors (1982), A Christmas Carol (1994) and Sister Act (2009).

Menken has collaborated with such lyricists as Lynn Ahrens, Howard Ashman, Jack Feldman, Tim Rice, Glenn Slater, Stephen Schwartz and David Zippel. With eight Academy Award wins, Menken is the second most prolific Oscar winner in the music categories after Alfred Newman, who has 9 Oscars. He has also won 11 Grammy Awards, a Tony Award and many other honors.

Early life

Alan Irwin Menken was born on July 22, 1949, at French Hospital in New York City, to Judith and Norman Menken. His father was a boogie-woogie piano-playing dentist, and his mother was an actress, dancer and playwright.[2][3] His family was Jewish.[4] Menken developed an interest in music at an early age, taking piano and violin lessons. He began to compose at an early age.[5] At age 9, at the New York Federation of Music Clubs Junior Composers Contest, his original composition "Bouree" was rated Superior and Excellent by the judges.[6]

He attended New Rochelle High School in New Rochelle, New York, and graduated in 1967. Menken remembers: "I'd make up my own Bach fugues and Beethoven sonatas because I was bored with the piano and I didn't want to practice; so I'd go off on tangents".[7] He then enrolled at New York University.[8] He graduated with a degree in Musicology in 1971 from the university's Steinhardt School. Menken recalled: "First, I was pre-med. I thought I'd be a dentist like my dad. Finally, I got a degree in music, but I didn't care about musicology. It wasn't until I joined BMI Workshop ... under Lehman Engel, and walked into a room with other composers that I knew this was it."[7] Menken noted that "Before college, I was writing songs to further my dream of being the next Bob Dylan. A lot of guitar songs – I was composing on piano before that."[9] After college, he attended the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.[10]

Career

Early career

After graduating, Menken's plan was to become either a rock star or a recording artist. His interest in writing musicals increased when he joined the Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) Musical Theatre Workshop and was mentored by Lehman Engel.[10] From 1974 to 1978, he showcased various BMI workshop works, such as Midnight, Apartment House (lyric by Muriel Robinson), Conversations with Pierre,[10] Harry the Rat and Messiah on Mott Street (lyrics by David Zippel).

According to Menken, during this period, he "worked as a ballet and modern dance accompanist, a musical director for club acts, a jingle writer, arranger, a songwriter for Sesame Street and a vocal coach. He performed his material at clubs like The Ballroom, Reno Sweeny and Tramps."[11]

In 1976, John Wilson reported for The New York Times that members of Engel's BMI Workshop began performing as part of the "Broadway at the Ballroom" series: "The opening workshop program ... featured Maury Yeston and Alan Menken, both playing their piano accompaniment and singing songs they have written for potential musicals."[12] Wilson reviewed a performance at the Ballroom in 1977 where Menken accompanied a singer: "In the current cabaret world, a piano accompanist is no longer expected to merely play piano for a singer. More and more, pianists can be heard joining in vocally, harmonizing with the singer, creating a background of shouts and exclamations or even doing brief passages of solo singing."[13]

Menken contributed material to revues like New York's Back in Town, Big Apple Country, The Present Tense (1977),[14] Real Life Funnies (Off-Broadway, 1981),[15] Diamonds (Off-Broadway, 1984), and Personals (Off-Off-Broadway, 1985).[16] His revue Patch, Patch, Patch ran at the West Bank Cafe in New York City in 1979 and featured Chip Zien. The New York Times reviewer Mel Gussow, wrote: "The title song ... refers to a life's passage. According to Alan Menken ... after age 30 it is a downhill plunge."[17]

Menken wrote several shows that were not produced, including Atina, Evil Queen of the Galaxy (1980), with lyrics by Steve Brown. He also wrote The Thorn with lyrics by Brown, which was commissioned by Divine in 1980. This was a parody of the film The Rose, but they could not raise the money to have it produced.[18] He collaborated with Howard Ashman in an uncompleted musical called Babe (c. 1981),[19][20] with Tom Eyen in Kicks: The Showgirl Musical (1984),[21] and with David Rogers in The Dream in Royal Street (c. 1981), which was an adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream.[20] Menken contributed music for the film The Line (1980), directed by Robert J. Siegel.[22]

Breakthrough years

Menken finally achieved success as a composer when playwright Howard Ashman chose him and Engel to write the music for his musical adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. The musical opened in 1979 at the WPA Theater[23] to excellent reviews[23] and modest box office. It transferred after several months to the Off-Broadway Entermedia Theater, where it ran for an additional six weeks.[24][25][26][27]

Menken and Ashman wrote their next musical, Little Shop of Horrors, for a cast of only 9 performers, including a puppeteer. This musical is based on the 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors. It opened at WPA Theater in 1982 to warm reviews. It moved to the Off Broadway Orpheum Theatre in the East Village, Manhattan, where it ran for five years. The musical set the box-office record for highest grossing Off-Broadway show of all time. It toured around the world, won theater awards and was adapted as a 1986 musical film starring Rick Moranis that earned Menken and Ashman their first Oscar nomination for the song "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space".[28] For his body of work in musical theatre, he was awarded the BMI Career Achievement Award in 1983.[2]

In 1987, Menken and lyricist David Spencer's adaptation The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, based on the 1959 novel of the same name, was produced in Philadelphia. After substantial re-writes, it was produced in 2015 in Montreal.[29][30] In 1992, the WPA Theatre produced Menken's Weird Romance, also with lyrics by Spencer.[31] Menken's musical based on the Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol, with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and book by Mike Ockrent, debuted at Madison Square Garden's Paramount Theater in 1994.[32] The show proved successful and was an annual New York holiday event.[33]

Disney Renaissance and later films

On the strength of the success of Little Shop of Horrors, Menken and Ashman were hired by Walt Disney Studios to write the music for The Little Mermaid (1989). The challenge was to create an animated musical film of this Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale that could sit alongside the Disney films Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella. The Little Mermaid opened to critical and commercial success and signaled a new Disney era called the Disney Renaissance.[34] The film gave them their first Oscar win: Best Song for the song "Under the Sea". Menken also won the 1989 Oscar for Best Score.[8][35]

Menken and Ashman's Beauty and the Beast garnered them three 1991 Oscar nominations for Best Song, winning for its title song.[35] Menken won another Oscar for Best Score. The two were working on Aladdin at the time of Ashman's death in 1991. Subsequently, Menken collaborated with Tim Rice to finish the songs for the film. The film won an Oscar in 1992 for Best Song: "A Whole New World".[35] Menken also won the Oscar for Best Score. Menken's live action musical film Newsies, with lyrics by Jack Feldman, was released in 1992.

Three more animated musical films followed. Menken collaborated with Stephen Schwartz for Pocahontas, for which the two won two Oscars: Best Song and Best Musical or Comedy Score. In 1996, the same musical team created the songs, and Menken, the score, for The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In 1997, Menken reunited with his early collaborator, David Zippel, for his last film in the era, Hercules.[36]

Menken also wrote the music for the Michael J. Fox vehicle Life with Mikey (1993),[37] the holiday film Noel (2004)[38] and Mirror Mirror (2012).[39] His other film scores for Disney have included Home on the Range (2004), the Tim Allen remake of The Shaggy Dog (2006), Enchanted (2007) and Tangled (2010).

In March 2017, Disney released a live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, directed by Bill Condon, with the songs from the 1991 film and new material by Menken and Rice.[40] Menken collaborated with Benj Pasek and Justin Paul on writing new songs for the 2019 live-action version of Aladdin, directed by Guy Ritchie.[41]

Menken is also working on new music for a live-action film adaptation of The Little Mermaid, directed by Rob Marshall, with longtime The Little Mermaid fan Lin-Manuel Miranda;[42] whom Menken knew since the former's childhood, as Miranda went to the same school as Menken's niece.[43] Menken will also once again be working with Stephen Schwartz to write new songs for Disenchanted, the sequel to Enchanted,[44] and for a remake of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which Menken will score.[45] Menken is also working alongside former Disney chief creative officer John Lasseter on a project at Skydance Animation.[46] In May 20, the project was recealed to be Vicky Jenson's Spellbound.[47] Menken will also co-write songs for Spellbound alongside Glenn Slater, with whom he worked in Home on the Range and Tangled.[47]

With eight Academy Awards, only composer Alfred Newman (nine wins) and Walt Disney (22 wins) have received more Oscars than Menken. He is tied for third place with late costume designer Edith Head, and currently holds the record for the most wins for a living person.[48]

Return to musical theatre

Menken debuted on Broadway with a musical theatre adaptation of Beauty and the Beast that opened in 1994 and ran for 13 years before closing in 2007. In 1997, he collaborated with lyricist Tim Rice on a musical, King David, based on the biblical character, which was performed in a concert version on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre. Little Shop of Horrors played on Broadway from 2003 to 2004.[49]

He next created the stage version of The Little Mermaid, which played on Broadway from 2008 to 2009 and for which he received a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Score.[49] Menken's stage adaptation of Sister Act premiered in London in 2009, and opened on Broadway in 2011. He was nominated for another Tony Award for Best Score.[50] Menken received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010.[51] In December 2010, he was a guest on the NPR quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!.[52]

In 2012, Menken won a Tony Award for Best Score for his musical adaptation of Newsies, which ran until 2014. He also wrote the music for Leap of Faith, which had a brief run on Broadway in 2012. His stage adaptation of Aladdin opened on Broadway in 2014, earning him another Tony nomination for Best Score.[49] In 2013, he was a guest at the annual Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, and was honored with the Junior Theater Festival Award.[53] He gave a concert there, including music that was cut from various productions, while talking about his creative process.

Menken's stage adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame played at La Jolla Playhouse, California, in 2014.[54][55] The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz was revived in Montreal in 2015,[29][30] and A Bronx Tale: The Musical, played at the Paper Mill Playhouse in 2016.[56] Menken is currently working on a stage musical adaptation of Night at the Museum.[46]

Personal life

Menken met the ballet dancer Janis Roswick while working with the Downtown Ballet Company. They have been married since November 1972 and live in North Salem, New York. They have two daughters, Anna Menken and Nora Menken.[57]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Director(s) Credited as Role Notes
Composer Songwriter Score producer Actor
1972 A Dancer's Life William Richert No No No Yes Himself Documentary film
1986 Little Shop of Horrors Frank Oz No Yes No No Composed songs with lyrics by Howard Ashman
1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit Robert Zemeckis No Yes No No Composed song "This Only Happens in the Movies" for the unproduced prequel.
1989 Polly Debbie Allen No Yes No No Composed song "By your side"; score by Joel McNeely
The Little Mermaid Ron Clements
John Musker		 Yes Yes No No Composed songs with lyrics by Howard Ashman
1990 Rocky V John G. Avildsen No Yes No No Composed song "Measure of a Man" with lyrics by Elton John & Tim Rice
1991 Beauty and the Beast Gary Trousdale
Kirk Wise		 Yes Yes No No Composed songs with lyrics by Howard Ashman
1992 Newsies Kenny Ortega No Yes No No Composed songs with lyrics by Jack Feldman; score by J.A.C. Redford
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York Chris Columbus No Yes No No Composed song "My Christmas Tree" with lyrics by Jack Feldman; score by John Williams
Aladdin Ron Clements
John Musker		 Yes Yes No No Composed songs with lyrics by Howard Ashman & Tim Rice
1993 Life with Mikey James Lapine Yes No No No
1995 Pocahontas Mike Gabriel
Eric Goldberg		 Yes Yes No No Composed songs with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
1996 The Hunchback of Notre Dame Gary Trousdale
Kirk Wise		 Yes Yes No Yes Phoebus
(singing voice)
(deleted scenes)		 Composed songs with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz;
featured as vocalist on deleted songs "In a Place of Miracles" and "As Long as There's a Moon"
1997 Hercules Ron Clements
John Musker		 Yes Yes No No Composed songs with lyrics by David Zippel
2004 Home on the Range Will Finn
John Sanford		 Yes Yes No No Composed songs with lyrics by Glenn Slater
Noel Chazz Palminteri Yes No Yes No
A Christmas Carol Arthur Allan Seidelman Yes No No No Television film
2006 The Shaggy Dog Brian Robbins Yes No No No
2007 Enchanted Kevin Lima Yes Yes No No Composed songs with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
2010 Tangled Byron Howard
Nathan Greno		 Yes Yes Yes No Composed songs with lyrics by Glenn Slater
2011 Captain America: The First Avenger Joe Johnston No Yes No No Composed "Star Spangled Man" with lyrics by David Zippel; score by Alan Silvestri
Jock the Hero Dog Duncan MacNeillie No Yes No No Composed song "Howling at the moon"; score by Klaus Badelt and Ian Honeyman
2012 Mirror Mirror Tarsem Singh Yes No No No
2016 Sausage Party Greg Tiernan
Conrad Vernon		 Yes Yes No No Co-composer with Christopher Lennertz;
Composed song "The Great Beyond" with lyrics by Glenn Slater, Kyle Hunter, Ariel Shaffir, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
Aria for a Cow Nikitha Mannam
Amos Sussigan		 Yes Yes No No Short film;
Composed song "Aria" with lyrics by Howard Ashman[58]
2017 Beauty and the Beast Bill Condon Yes Yes No No Returning to score from the 1991 animated film
Composed original songs with lyrics by Howard Ashman; Composed new songs with lyrics by Tim Rice
2018 Ralph Breaks the Internet Rich Moore
Phil Johnston		 No Yes No No Composed songs "In This Place" and "A Place Called Slaughter Race" with lyrics by Phil Johnston & Tom MacDougall
Holmes & Watson Etan Cohen No Yes No No Composed song "Strange Sensation" with lyrics by Glenn Slater
Howard Don Hahn Yes No No No
2019 Aladdin Guy Ritchie Yes Yes No No Returning to score from the 1992 animated film
Composed original songs with lyrics by Howard Ashman & Tim Rice; Composed new songs with lyrics by Pasek & Paul
TBA The Little Mermaid Rob Marshall Yes Yes No No Returning to score from the 1989 animated film
Composed original songs with lyrics by Howard Ashman; Composed new songs with lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda
TBA Disenchanted Adam Shankman Yes Yes No No Composed songs with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
TBA The Hunchback of Notre Dame[59] TBA Yes Yes TBA TBA Returning to score from the 1996 animated film
Composed songs with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
TBA Spellbound[47] Vicky Jenson Yes Yes No No Composed songs with lyrics by Glenn Slater

Television
  • Sesame Street [the songs "Grouchelot", "What is Friend?", "It's Gonna Get Dirty Again," "Snuffle Friends," "Martian Family (Yip Yip Song)," and "Todos un Pueblo"] 1989–1990
  • Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (supervising composer, the song "Wonderful Ways to Say No") 1990
  • Lincoln 1992
  • The Neighbors – season 1 episode 20 "Sing Like a Larry Bird" [the songs "More or Less The Kind of Thing You May or May Not Possibly See on Broadway", "Giselle", "More or Less The Kind of Thing You May or May Not Possibly See on Broadway" (Reprise)] 2013
  • Galavant (2 seasons complete soundtrack, score by Christopher Lennertz) 2015–2016
  • Tangled: The Series 2017[60] (3 seasons)
  • Untitled Beauty and the Beast prequel series.[46]

Musicals

Other

Upcoming projects
  • As of 2014 Menken was composing a new musical based on the 1994 film Corrina, Corrina, with lyrics by Brian Yorkey and book by Jessie Nelson (writer of the film's screenplay) for singer/actress Audra McDonald.[63]
  • As of 2019, Menken is reuniting his Newsies creators Jack Feldman and Harvey Fierstein to develop a new musical called Greetings From Niagara Falls. A reading was held in January 2019; however, there is no word on future plans for the project at this time.[64]
  • As of 2019, Menken is working on a live-action remake of The Little Mermaid with Lin Manuel Miranda.
  • As of 2020, Menken is working with Stephen Schwartz on a sequel of Enchanted called Disenchanted.

Awards
Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Alan Menken

Alan Menken has received eight Academy Awards,eleven Grammy Awards and one Tony Award. He has also received seven Golden Globe Awards, one Drama Desk Award and two Outer Critics Awards.

He was made a Disney Legend in 2002 and was the recipient of a Richard Kirk Career Achievement Award in 1998, a Freddie G. Award for Musical Excellence in 2013, and The Oscar Hammerstein Award in 2013, among others.

The American Film Institute included the title song from the film Beauty and the Beast, in the AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs. Five other songs from his Disney films were nominated:

In 2006, AFI listed its 25 greatest movie musicals, with Beauty and the Beast (1991) ranked 22nd. It is the only animated musical film on the list. Four of his other film musicals were also nominated:[65]

In 2019, Menken finally accepted the Razzie Award for "Worst Original Song" he won at the 13th Golden Raspberry Awards (1993) for "High Times, Hard Times" from Newsies (1992), becoming the first person to win a Razzie and Oscar in the same year.[66][67] Menken wrote the music for the song, and shared the award with lyricist Jack Feldman.

References
  1. "Alan Menken Discography at Discogs". Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  2. "Timeline. Official Site" Archived 2019-12-27 at the Wayback Machine, Alanmenken.com, accessed February 19, 2016
  3. "Alan Menken Biography (1949–)", FilmReference.com, accessed August 27, 2011
  4. "He's a Guest: Composer Alan Menken Shares Thoughts at BMI Master Class - Playbill". Playbill.
  5. "Alan Menken: Year Inducted 2001", Disney Legends, D23.com, accessed February 19, 2016
  6. ""Bouree" composition and comments from contest judges" Archived 2018-01-06 at the Wayback Machine, Alanmenken.com
  7. Klein, Alvin. "Theater: Composer Finds His Niche in Life", The New York Times, July 27, 1986, accessed February 19, 2016
  8. "Alan Menken biography", The New York Times, accessed February 19, 2016
  9. "10 Questions With Alan and Anna Rose Menken", BMI.com, May 22, 2013, accessed February 19, 2016
  10. Jones, Kenneth. "He's a Guest: Composer Alan Menken Shares Thoughts at BMI Master Class", Playbill, December 18, 1998
  11. "Biography, 1972-1980" Archived 2019-12-27 at the Wayback Machine, Alanmenken.com, accessed February 19, 2016
  12. Wilson, John S. "Someday, Maybe on Broadway, But for Now They Are in SoHo", The New York Times, October 13, 1976, p. 33
  13. Wilson, John S. "Menken and Ellen March Play", The New York Times, November 3, 1977, p. 71
  14. Dietz, Dan. "Present Tense", Off Broadway Musicals, 1910-2007: Casts, Credits, Songs, Critical Reception, McFarland, 2010, ISBN 0786457317, p. 362
  15. Rich, Frank. "Revue. Real Life Funnies", The New York Times, February 12, 1981, accessed February 19, 2016
  16. Rich, Frank. "Stage. 'Personal' Musical Comedy", The New York Times, November 25, 1985, accessed February 19, 2016
  17. Gussow, Mel. "Cabaret: Patch, a Revue With Cheer for Over 30's: Life Passes", The New York Times, August 16, 1979, p. C14
  18. Jay, Bernard. "Briefly Not the Bitch", Not Simply Divine, Simon and Schuster (1994), p. 87, ISBN 0671884670
  19. Jones, Kenneth. ""Howard Sings Ashman" CDs Will Feature Demos From Smile, Babe, Mermaid and More", Playbill, October 10, 2008, accessed February 20, 2016
  20. Suskin, Steven. "Alan Menken", Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadways Major Composers, Oxford University Press (2010), pp. 356–359, ISBN 019974209X
  21. Tepper, Jennifer. "Only Ran a Minute! 10 Forgotten Musicals Due For a Revival" Archived 2015-09-04 at the Wayback Machine, Playbill, May 2, 2015, accessed February 19, 2016
  22. "The Line Details", The New York Times, accessed February 20, 2016
  23. Gussow, Mel. "Stage: God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater: In Vonnegut Land", The New York Times, May 21, 1979, p. C14
  24. Corry, John. "Broadway: The Phoenix's place in the city's theatrical life", The New York Times, August 17, 1979, p. C2
  25. Jones, Kenneth. "Menken & Ashman's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater Gets NYC Concert March 7", Playbill, March 6, 2003, accessed February 18, 2016
  26. "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater Listing", Lortel.org, accessed February 18, 2016
  27. Vonnegut, Kurt. "Script" Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Samuel French, Inc., 1980, ISBN 0573681252, pp. 3-4
  28. "Menken Biography" Archived 2017-01-29 at the Wayback Machine, Songwritershalloffame.org, accessed February 22, 2016
  29. Viagas, Robert. "Alan Menken-David Spencer Musical Duddy Kravitz Will Get Another Chance in Montreal", Playbill, March 28, 2014
  30. "Cast Set for World Premiere of Alan Menken Musical Duddy Kravitz in Montreal", BroadwayWorld.com, March 10, 2015
  31. Gussow, Mel. "Review/Theater; Nearby Science Fiction In a Musical of 2 Parts", The New York Times, June 23, 1992
  32. Richards, David. "Theater Review. A Christmas Carol; A Famous Miser, Tiny Tim and a Tap-Dancing Chorus", The New York Times, December 2, 1994, accessed February 18, 2016
  33. "Show History", MTIshows.com, accessed February 18, 2016
  34. "1989 Yearly Box Office for G-Rated Movies". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
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  36. Hercules, TCM.com, accessed February 19, 2016
  37. Rainer, Peter. "A Fox Steals the Show in Too-Cute Life", Los Angeles Times, June 4, 1993, accessed February 18, 2016
  38. Demonte, Adena. Noel, Film Monthly, December 1, 2004, accessed February 18, 2016
  39. Phares, Heather. "Alan Menken: Mirror Mirror (Soundtrack)", AllMusic, accessed February 18, 2016
  40. McNary, Dave (March 16, 2015). "Disney's Live-Action Beauty and the Beast Set for March 17, 2017". Variety. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  41. "Alan Menken Talks Live-Action Aladdin, Little Mermaid, and Young Lin-Manuel Miranda". Make It Better - Family, Food, Finances & Philanthropy. 2019-01-07. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  42. "VIDEO: Pasek & Paul to Team with Menken on Live-Action ALADDIN; Miranda Confirmed for LITTLE MERMAID". Broadway World.
  43. Lee, Ashley (March 14, 2017). "'Beauty and the Beast' Composer Alan Menken on Rediscovering Lost Lyrics and Why He's "Shutting Up" About That Gay Character". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  44. Christina Radish (March 7, 2018). "Adam Shankman on 'Step Up: High Water' and The Status of the 'Enchanted' Sequel". Collider. Retrieved April 30, 2018. As planned right now, there's more singing and dancing than there was in the first one, and it's all original music, with Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz coming back to do it.
  45. April May, Rebecca (May 20, 2019). "Disney legend Alan Menken talks about updating Aladdin and the movie he thinks won't get remade". Digital Spy. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  46. Talk Back with Alan Menken (2020)
  47. Giranda, Carolyn (May 20, 2020). "Alan Menken to Compose Original Songs and Score for Skydance Animation's 'Spellbound'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
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  49. "Alan Menken", Internet Broadway Database, accessed February 17, 2016
  50. "2011 Tony Nominations Announced!" BroadwayWorld.com, May 3, 2011
  51. Gans, Andrew. "Alan Menken to Be Honored with Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame" Archived 2010-12-12 at the Wayback Machine, Playbill, November 8, 2010
  52. "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! for December 18, 2010", NPR.org, accessed February 18, 2016
  53. Hetrick, Adam. "2013 Junior Theater Festival to Feature Newsies Cast, Alan Menken, Thomas Schumacher, Jeff Calhoun and More", Playbill, January 7, 2013
  54. "Patrick Page, Michael Arden, Ciara Renee & More to Lead The Hunchback of Notre Dame at La Jolla Playhouse!". BroadwayWorld.com. September 4, 2014.
  55. "Paper Mill Season Will Feature Can-Can, Hunchback, Ever After, Vanya and Sonia and More". playbill.com. February 26, 2014. Archived from the original on March 2, 2014. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  56. The Verdict: Critics Review 'Bronx Tale: The Musical'", Playbill, February 17, 2016
  57. "Westchester Fall Arts Preview: Theater" westchestermagazine.com, Retrieved 2014-10-02.
  58. "Dan Lund Animates 'Aria for a Cow' | Animation World Network". Awn.com. 2013-11-22. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  59. Fleming Jr., Mike (January 16, 2019). "Disney Rings 'Hunchback' Bell: David Henry Hwang To Script Live Action Musical, Alan Menken/Stephen Schwartz Writing Music". Deadline. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  60. "Tangled: Before Ever After Adds More Voice Cast". 8 March 2016.
  61. Gans, Andrew. "De Niro and Zaks Pick Jason Gotay, Nick Cordero, Richard H. Blake to Star in 'Bronx Tale: The Musical'", Playbill, December 18, 2015
  62. Geier, Thom (September 2, 2019). "'Hercules' Theater Review: Can Disney's Animated Hero Go the Distance to Broadway?". The Wrap. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  63. Hetrick, Adam. "Alan Menken Writing Corinna, Corinna Musical for Audra McDonald", Playbill, December 11, 2014
  64. "Shoshana Bean, Bonnie Milligan, Terrance Mann, Nancy Opel Lead Reading of Greetings From Niagara Falls From The Creative Team Of Newsies" broadwayworld.com, January 22, 2019
  65. "AFI's GREATEST MOVIE MUSICALS" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  66. Alan Menken Humbly Accepts His Razzie!, retrieved 2020-03-21
  67. "The Razzies!". The Razzies!. Retrieved 2020-03-21.

Further reading
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